A good caramel buttercream is smooth, rich, and glossy. It's made with homemade caramel sauce that takes just five minutes to make. Drizzle some caramel sauce and a few grains of salt for that salted caramel buttercream everyone craves.
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Two of my absolute favorite condiments are caramel or butterscotch sauce. There is so much you can do with these from ice creams to pancakes and waffles. The best part is it takes just five minutes to make these from scratch at home.
When I became a cake decorator some of my popular recipes were with this caramel or butterscotch buttercream. From macarons to cupcakes as well as frosted cookies these flavors were always the best sellers.
The caramel apple cake above uses this caramel buttercream frosting with a caramel sauce dripped on the sides.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Caramel sauce - while you can use store-bought sauce, I highly recommend you make your own so you can make a thicker sauce which works better for consistency. Besides, it takes just 5 to 7 minutes to make your own from scratch
- Butter - I always use unsalted European butter for my butterscotch or caramel, European butter has lower moisture content and is often used for making pastry.
- Powdered sugar - Always use powdered sugar made from cane sugar, not beet sugar. Beet sugar stays grainy and gritty
- Vanilla extract - a good quality vanilla extract goes a long way. Pro-tip - it is more affordable to make your own vanilla extract, bean paste, or vanilla sugar.
Step by step instructions
- Premade buttercream - If you are a cake decorator like me, then you probably already have buttercream on hand - why would you make more from scratch? Right? You can use any frosting from Swiss, Italian, French, German, or American Buttercream as a base.
- Of course, this buttercream is a bit soft in-consistency because you are now adding a sauce ingredient. Please keep that in mind but in some cakes it's ok.
- And you definitely cannot use it for piping because the consistency is soft.
- From scratch - You can make it from scratch using this recipe. A fair warning
- This is rich, light, and fluffy because you MUST whip it for at least three minutes.
- I love using this more than the first method because it's not too sweet but rather very buttery.
- As you can see it's all butter so use it such that it complements the cake. Beautiful light and airy cake will be a better match than a dense cake. A dense cake with an all-butter butterscotch frosting might be a bit too much. Unless of course, that indulgence is what you are looking for.
- This buttercream does not do so well with piping - it's much softer than regular powdered sugar buttercreams.
Step by step instructions
From scratch
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and salt until pale, light, and fluffy
Pro-tip - the butter must be room temperature otherwise it will make a lumpy buttercream - Next, add the caramel sauce in two batches making sure to combine well.
Pro-tip - the mixing will look very soft, loose, and almost curdled. Just keep whipping. - Next, add the powdered sugar and continue to whip. Once all the powdered sugar is well-combined turn the mixer to medium-high and whip for three full minutes until light and fluffy
Pro-tip - the butter and cream in the butterscotch sauce will whip into a light and airy buttercream so don't skip the whipping. - Finally, add the vanilla extract and combine well.
From premade buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the caramel sauce with the premade buttercream until light and fluffy.
Pro-tip - if you don't whip enough the buttercream will be a soft consistency.
More buttercream recipes
- 30 + Buttercream Recipes - Frosting
- Light & Fluffy Ermine Frosting (Less Sweet)
- Stiff Buttercream Frosting for Cake Decorating
- White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Bakery-Style Chocolate Frosting
- Best Coffee Buttercream Frosting
- Stiff Buttercream Frosting for Cake Decorating
- See all frosting recipes
Tips and troubleshooting
- The consistency of the sauce you use will determine the consistency of the buttercream.
- Ideally, one way to get a firmer buttercream would be to add more powdered sugar, but this results in a sweeter buttercream.
- If the consistency of the buttercream is too soft - use it as a filling first then use some regular buttercream to frost the outside of the cake.
Frequently asked questions
This buttercream will keep in the fridge for up to a week. You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight for best results
Caramel is made with white sugar while butterscotch is made with brown sugar. Butterscotch has a unique flavor that comes from the molasses in the brown sugar.
Recipes that use brown sugar are often enhanced with the flavor of butterscotch. Coffee and chocolate both work well with it as well.
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Printable Recipe
Caramel Buttercream Frosting
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Conversions Used
1 lb = 453 grams, 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 stick = 113g, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 tsp= 5 ml,
Ingredients
From scratch
- 1 cup (240 ml) Caramel sauce
- 1 lb (450 g) Butter (unsalted, room temperature)
- 1 cup (120 g) Powdered sugar (or more for consistency)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
with Premade buttercream
- 1 cup Butterscotch Sauce
- 4 cups Any Buttercream Frosting ((choose from below))
- American Buttercream Frosting
- French Buttercream Frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Italian Meringue Buttercream
- German Buttercream
Instructions
From scratch
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and salt until pale, light, and fluffy Pro-tip - the butter must be room temperature otherwise it will make a lumpy buttercream
- Next, add the caramel sauce in two batches making sure to combine well. Pro-tip - the mixing will look very soft, loose, and almost curdled. Just keep whipping.
- Next, add the powdered sugar and continue to whip. Once all the powdered sugar is well-combined turn the mixer to medium-high and whip for three full minutes until light and fluffyPro-tip - the butter and cream in the butterscotch sauce will whip into a light and airy buttercream so don't skip the whipping.
- Finally, add the vanilla extract and combine well.
From premade buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the caramel sauce with the premade buttercream until light and fluffy. Pro-tip - if you don't whip enough the buttercream will be a soft consistency.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- The consistency of the sauce you use will determine the consistency of the buttercream.
- Ideally, one way to get a firmer buttercream would be to add more powdered sugar, but this results in a sweeter buttercream.
- If the consistency of the buttercream is too soft - use it as a filling first then use some regular buttercream to frost the outside of the cake.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Janet
Would this recipe be a good choice to go under a fondant cake that will be at an outdoor event end of May in Florida heat?
Veena Azmanov
Hey Janet. This is a soft consistency icing so if it is hot - perhaps not the right frosting to use for that weather. Try using a cake decorator's chocolate ganache instead. It is more stable.
Stephanie
Hi Veena! This looks so delicious. I would like to use this to frost some cupcakes but I almost don’t want to alter it in anyway but had two questions.
1. I would like a red color...would the red dye alter the taste at all?
2. If I want to pipe roses and flowers would you suggest I do a different buttercream (like your American) batch for those flowers so I can achieve stiffness? This caramel frosting looks like I wouldn’t want to alter it much, it’s beautiful as is!
Veena Azmanov
Hey Stephanie. This is a soft consistency icing and not suitable for making flowers. Also, the caramel color would alter the red color so you won't get a pure red.. it would be a dull red.
And this is definitely not the icing for buttercream flowers. You can make flowers with my stiff buttercream frosting, American buttercream, as well as Swiss meringue or Italian meringue
Stephanie
Oooo so glad I asked! I didn’t even consider the look of the color when mixed with the caramel! Thank you!
Pınar
A delicious buttercream recipe for caramel lovers. Thanks
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Pinar.
Alexis
Oh my daughter is the baker in our family and she's always on the hunt for a new buttercream recipe. I'll have to show this one to her, it looks delicious.
Veena Azmanov
Thanks Alexis. Then you must share my blog with her - she will love some of these recipes.
Melissa
This sounds divine, like all of your icings!! We used your chocolate buttercream a couple of weeks ago when making cupcakes and I was so worried I wouldn't have enough because I kept eating it (ha!). I will have to bookmark this one for an apple cupcake!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, you Melisa. So happy you enjoyed my chocolate buttercream recipe. I know what you mean. I have the habit of over tasting my filling and frostings too.